The most crowded collision of galaxy clusters has been identified by combining information from three different telescopes. This result gives scientists a chance to learn what happens when some of…

What's different about nocturnal mammals that have 'night vision'?  According to a Cell report, the DNA within the photoreceptor rod cells responsible for low light vision is packaged in a very…

There's a perception among some that it's a man's world and they get all the attention.   If you've ever been in a bar or a library or a baseball game, you know this is not true - have a woman…

What?  NASA wants to make Earth Day about space? Not at all, NASA is instead asking the public to vote for the most important contribution the space agency has made to exploring and…

Combating several human pathogens, including some biological warfare agents, may one day become a bit easier thanks to research reported by a University of Iowa chemist and his colleagues in the…

An unmapped reservoir of briny liquid chemically similar to sea water, but buried under an inland Antarctic glacier, appears to support unusual microbial life in a place where cold, darkness and lack…

Scientists have found an ancient ecosystem below an Antarctic glacier and learned that it survived millions of years by transforming sulfur and iron compounds for growth. Described in the April 17…

Is it a weapon? Is it a tool? Is it a form of protest? Can it make your city pretty? Then it must be a seed ball! Screening criteria for use: are you able to throw, drop, give to someone else to…

Sanger F, Nicklen S, Coulson AR. 1977. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U S A 74: 5463-7. This paper describes the most important…

If you happened to visit this site earlier today, you may have found it devoid of a suitable banner. That is because I took some time pondering on that design detail for this new site. I wanted…

Science is great at finding new rules for expectant mothers.  They already can’t have alcohol, caffeine, or cigarettes. They also need to stay away from their cat’s litterbox, stay off of planes…

Part 1, which begins our examination of the question 'what is time?' can be viewed here.Part 2 Some travels through time can be viewed  here.Part 3 discussing language, sequence and order, can…

The setup to the classic Melting Ice Cube problem goes something like this: “Fifty grams of ice are melting in a 100-mililiter cup of 35-degree water.” Using simple principles of energy transfer, we…

Bora has posted an interesting draft policy on social media from an unidentified "Big Research Institution" (BRI). It's already stimulating some good discussion (follow the link for more links)…

This short post is my first contribution to ScientificBlogging: with it I am relocating my blog here from wordpress. I am thrilled by the opportunity to join a larger group of excellent science…

Tormented cries from mother as her cub is butchered and eaten... Does it pull at your heart strings? Mine, too. A rally of cries about a shark attack generally bring something less warm and fuzzy,…

India is a huge country. It has the richest cultural diversity, at the same time its economic diversity is also staggering. There are extremely rich people and also appalling poorer people. This…

New research provides insight into how the brain can execute different actions in response to the same stimulus. The study, published by Cell Press in the April 16 issue of the journal Neuron,…

If we're going to get a $300 genome sequence any time in the near future, around the cost it will take to have it as part of routine medical care, the process has to get faster. The obstacles to…